Bean, Floyd

Jazz musician Floyd Bean was born in Ladora, Iowa (1904). He began playing drums for the Grinnell High School Band but soon turned to piano. He took his first job (1918) at the Linwood (Iowa) Inn, where he played with Bix Beiderbecke in 1923. Floyd played in several local bands and worked for WOC radio in Davenport before landing his first big job in 1939 in Chicago as a pianist with the Bob Crosby Band. He cut several albums including four sides with Timmy McPartland's band, his "I Never Thought I'd Sing the Blues" between 1939 and 1950. During this period his best known record was with Muggsy Spanier, called "Back Room Blues," later changed to "Lazy Piano Man." He spent the last thirteen years of his life playing at various jazz festivals and local spots in Cedar Rapids.